Photographic-film holder.



W. FEZ.

PHUTOGRAPHIC FILM HOLDER.

"mamon mm un s. ma.

Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Wl TNESSES W. FETZ.

PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM HOLDER. l lui'ummou4 msu uw s. ma.

1,294,079. Pand Feb. 11, 1919.

Wl INESSES v Wam/m f frz "UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.,

'wEzamin Fmz, or NEW Yann, N. Y.

PHOTOGRAPHIE-FEM .HCLDER Specification ot'Lettcrs Patent. Patented Fal), 1 1, 1 91,9,

- applicaties ined nay s, 191s. serial No. 232,713.

' ,i Toallichom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, lVEnNER Fn'rz, a citi- ;zen of the United States, residing in the l "county of Bronx, city and State of New fai ,'York, have invented certain new and use- "'fll Improvements -in Photographic-Film lzlolcle'ts,;1of which the following is' a speci- My invention relates toholders flor-flexible4 1 A'ticularly during the process of exposure, has

' if holding ngi e.,

.been to keepi the iilin or paper perfectly Hat,- as is, o f course, necessary in order that it .i'i'nay .coincide with the focal plane. When but smallareas are involved, say up toV 4'61]x'8 or even up onBxlO, the various modes ,which have been sug- 5 for example, supporting it tween two spools, or placin itin an 'ordinary frame, have beenfoun fairly sat' isfactory. However when exposures larger than those mentioned have been in question,

2,5 such `lofitliasflieen found that films sup orted be- I -f' ventionA is to tween two spools, or in the usual rame, `will :not lie suhiciently flat to coincide accurately with the plane of"the prolcted image.

And if the lm be pressed tween glass u plates, as has been suggested vand attempted,

then scratches, dust articles, streaks dueto electrication, and o er similar defects are almost, certainto devolo in the film,

. b The obixect of my invention about to be ,40. describedvis to provdea simple-pracftical holder adapted to have a sensitizeitlm quickly fastened thereto or removed'thereromand to li htly stretch saidfilm in such .a way as to su )'ectethe film to uniform butg tle tension over its `entire surface and to `amp e; Fig. 6 represents u view similar to VFi .'1 but taken from the front of the ring all arts of its surface iiitgone'and '..the same p ane. A further' object of my inacter s 'iii such that the tension in the be Elm w lbe even and uniform over itsentire surface Ir ardless of the fact that the two ends to w ich the stretching'forces are applied 'may not be 'arallel to one another.

Essentially, m invention com rises a pair as of lm edge ho ding members uviiig narrow clamps adapted to be slid over opposite rovide a-gliolder of the charedges or ends of the film, each clamp being provided with an .operative handle for gripping the two coperatingmembers of the clamptightly upon the film. 'The clamps are respectively attached to the outer ends ofa pair of thrust members whosenner ends, one or both of which is resilient, will abut when said thrust members are a|i )reaching coincidence with a common plane hind that of. the film and arallel therewith. By then forcing the t rust members into complete coincidence with said plane, the cla-inps will be pushed away from one another and the film stretched with a force depeidentupon.the stifness of the resilient abut-ment end above referred to. l Provision is mede for locking the thrust members together in this ultimate position.

The inner abuttin members are arrange to rock upon one another in their own plane so that, even if theends of the thrust` edges of the film gripped by the clamps are l not originally'parallel to one another, nevertheless the tension'in the film will be unifori'n over the entire surface thereof.

The holderwlien in use and film stretched., is placed in a kitor plate'holder of usual construction. 7

My invention' will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 represents a rear view ot az preferred form of Amy improved holder with a ilni in place therein; Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal section, taken along the line 2-2 of Fig.. 1; Fig. 3 re resents an elevation, taken from the edge bottom of Fig. 1), the holder bein shownwith the Iilm in unstretehed or slac position; Fi 4 represents a *perspectiveviem enlarged, showing the detaledconstructon of the clumps by which the edges of the, film are gripped:I

Fig. 5 represents a transverse section, still further enlarged, through one of the clamps, alon the line 5-5 of Figs. l and 4, for ex- 9'is :i perspective vien', on the same scale as Fig. 8, showing the locking device for the thi-ust members astlie same appears when member .4 is of channel-shaped section an its l embrace the cross bar 3 as shown in the gures, the distance between the legs, however, being substantially greater than the thickness of said cross bar. Transverse slots fl, through which screws 6 ass, are provided in the gripping member, us enab ing said member to swing or move transversely with reference to the ero bar upon this spring 5. Spring 5 is 'given an initial set sothat it tends normally to keep the front leg 8 of the gripping member away from the front side o the cross bar 3.

Upon the rear side of cross bar 3 and bctween it and the rear leg 9 is a linearly slidable strip 10 provided with a lurality of spaced cams or wed es 11' the i) 9 is provided with a plur; ity oi space slots 12 through which the cams 11 will project for one position of strip 10. Upon the lower side of strip 10 is a pair of spaced lugs 13 between winch enters one end of a bell critnk operating lever 14 ivoted upon a Jlate'li attached to the bac inner side of t. 1e cross bar 3. A'As the handle 16 of this operating lever is moved in one direction or the other, the stri 10 carrying the cams 11 will be oorf respon ingly slid, thus raising gripping member 4 against the preure of spring 5 and causing the leg 8 to tightly grip against the cross bar, or, on the other hand, allowin it to be pushed therefrom by the action o spring 5 as the case may be.

Leg 8 is provided with a plurality of holes 17 placed fairly close together, say about il" to 1 apart; and pins 1S having rounded outer ends, and adiameter-substantallyvsmaller than that of holes. 16, are set in the cross bar 3, concentric with said holes and so as to just project slightly beyond, the surface of the cross bar and into the holes lwhen the leg 8 is drawn up against the cross The two clamps are attached respectively tothe outer ends of thrust members 19. 20, each of which comprises a light but. rigid skeleton framework whose inner ends terminate respectively in plates 21, 22. One of these plat 21, has one end of a leaf spring. 23, attachl to its inner edge, the other end of the spring being adapted to slide upon said edgg, when said spring is flattened. And the other plate, 22, carries an abutment, 24, attached to it by screws, 25. passing through a slot 26; the abutment may thus be, linear y adjusted.

At the extremities of plu-te 21, and on the front side theieof are provided inwardly projecting guide plates, 2T, having forwardly bent ends. And upon the back of this same plate and of the thrust member, 19, tothe inner end of which said late is vaittached, there is fasti-ned a. locking ar, 2S,

and in substantially the same plane the ring may be swung over the end of =the locking bar, 28, (as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 9) or swung free therefrom (as shown in Fig. 3).

In using the holder of my invention, opposite edges (preferably the shorter edges) of the film nrc respectively slid between the leg, 8, and the cross bar, 3, of the two clam s. The handle, 1.6, must, of course,

lirst nave been thrown to its extreme outward position (shown dotted, Fig. l, and nlsoshown in Fig. 4), thus permitting leg, H, to space itself away from the cross bar under the influence of spring, 5. Each film edge should be pushed into the' clamp until it is stopped b v the web -of the gripping member, 4. As each film edge is thus positioned. the corresponding operating handle, 16. is pushed inwardly toward the clamps, thus causing strip, 10, to more linearly under leg 9 and forcing cams, 11, ont of the slots. 12. thereby forclbl) plrssing log. S, toward the cross bar and gripping the film lntween the leg and cross bar. Pins, 18, being substantiall)` smaller than holes, 17, but concentric therewith and having rounded ends, will indent` thc film edge and push it into holes ll for a short distance without. breaking or cutting the tilm; the film edge will therefore he held very tightly and firmly between thc lcg.l. and the cross bar.

The two film edges haring been ,respew tively gripped by the two clamps, said film with the two members of the holders is laid in the kit or plate holder, 3i with the thrust members on the rear side thereof (as shown in Fig. 3). As the inner ends ofthe two 'members are lowered toward a. common plane. tluinner end of thrust inem-ber, 20, should -bo entered between the locking bar .28 and the guide plates 2T. If the clamps and thrust members have been suitably selected for the particular size of film which is being dealt with, the end of abutment., 24. should now engage the leaf spring, 23. lf it does not thus engage the leaf spring. then it should be adjusted linearly by means of screws, 25, until it does so engage.

The two thrust members should `now be pushed forwardly until they lie substantially lOC the film, as shown in Fig. 2. As the thrust 0 that said loo may be swung over the endet bfy nently lock,

members thus move' from the Iposltion shown in- Fig. 3 to that shown in' ig., 2, the leaf spring, 23, will be compressed, thus putting tension upon the lm'and all' rtions of said film into a sin' l ane.. hen the thrust members have. forced suiciently.forward to bring them mto'a common plane, the free eindKofiloclfixxg. baixgQS th th 0 en e i. 1 e locking bar and ringf also may will lie against the thrust' clamp, 2', m such proximity to the "loop, 3

the lockingr,'/the l ing the two members o e holder to her with the film in stretched condition.

two clamps by which they are thrust apartis obviously in The stretching of the film will be uniform i (the" point of contact of'abutmen't, 24, with .leaf spring, 23,) and ummm the we members of the holder are able to rock upon and with reference to mon plane.

As above suglge'sted, itis of course necessary that the elders constructed with some reference to' the sue 'of the film to be dealt. with. Certain variations in the'length of the Elm may, of course, be taken care of y adjusting abutment,24. Bu in raetxce, for extreme differences of l o film, it would probably b e preferable use holders whose thrust members are correspondingly one another in their com.

different in length.' ASuch -cases would-not necessarily require that both members .of

the holderbe Thus, assuming that, as illustrated in e draw the is 20x24 inches, the clamps being us 20 inches long, the next smaller standard lm is 16520 inches. In such case the holder membenearrying the loclcing bar in ht remain the same and be applied to the onger'(20 inch) edge of the 16x20 film. The other holder member having the loop, 30, would alone require to have a, shorter thrust member. In this way, one holder member having a locking bar and two mating holder, members havin thrust bars of diil'erent lengths would be ucient for these two standard sized films.

The'lrit or plate holder should be rabbet/ad not only at its ends, where indeed it is absolutely essential' to receive the 'two clamps; but also at the sides m as to all'ord a support for the free edges o f the film which are otherwise aptto curl slightly.

The kit should obviously also be a little wing to the end of the locking bar being` cut away. at, 29, the effective resilienceA between the means or holding the t l0f the claims., Thus, the clump members may be ggxiped together by means other ge shaped cams which are illusbe equiva -other locking means. Similarly the lea spring and adjustable abutment atytheends of the two th rust members -maydutve other. equivalent structures substituted for them. Such changes will readily occurtothe skilled mechanic.

What I. claim 'is- 1 1. In a photographic lihn'holder, a pair of clamlllxs adaptedfto grip opposite edges of a lm, t rust members respectively attached to the inner side of eah clump, the free ends of said members being adapted to abut. 'esiliently when the film `1s thus gripped :s the thrust members are approached to but before the reach a common Iplane, and locking rust. members in said4 common plane.

2. In a photographic film holder, a pair of clam adapted to grip opposite edges of a film, rust members respectively attached to the inner'sde oLeach clamp, the free end .of one of such members being resilient and .anot e'r at substantially a single point when 'the film is thus gripged, whereby the 'film is uniformly tensione ver its whole aren.

4. In a photographic lilm holder, a pair ofclanips adapted to grip opposite edges of a hn, and resilient means between said clam whereby they are pressed apart when the lm is thus lpped, the clamps being relatively mov-ab e singularly in their com- A mon lane.

5. a photographic film holder, a pair of clamps adapted to grip opposite edges of a film, thrust members respectively attached to the ihner side of each clam and adapted to abut resiliently at a Singe point when said thrust members are in a common plano s0 that the clumps are. relatively movable in their common plane about the abutting point, 'whereby the film is tensioned unforml over tsarea.

6. a photographic iilm holder, a clump comprising a cross bar, a. channel sectioned grippin member attached t0 and embracmg sai cross bar and movable transversely theretoz the distance between thev channel legs fbemg greater than the thiclmess of the cross bar, anda' wedg to be forced' into or but of the free space between u channel leg and the .cross bar s'o as to press the other channel leg against the other side of the cross hat.'

-i. In a'photographic 'film helder, a' air of linearly clampi mem rs adapted to receive a lilm edge therebetween one of said 'members having a -plurality of pins projecting sliltly beyond its surface and the other mem r ha a plurality of holes substantially larger ut respectively concentric with the pins so that :he 51m edge, when it is clamped, isA indented but not punched or cut.

8. A. photographic lm holder comprising a kit and a clamping device comprising a pair of clamps adapted to p opposite edges of a film, said 1clamps `being connected e shaped camadapted press theclamps apart and which permit 'relative angular motion of the clamps in their common plane the kit having a rabbet on the ediels at rig t angles tot-he clamps against w 'ch the eorrespondingedgcs .of the film are adapted to lie.

9. In a photographic film holder, a pair of clampsadapted to grip opposite edges of a film, thrust members respectively xed -to the inner .side of each clamp and abutting when said members are in a common plane and locking means for retaining said memhers in sai common lane.

'10. In a photo rap ic film holder, a pair of clam adap lto grip 'opposite edges of a 51m; rust members respectively fixed to the inner' side of each clamp and abutting resiliently when said members are in a common plane and locking means for retaining said members in said common plane. fIn testimony whereof I have 'hereunto setxn hand.

y WERNER FETZ. 

